The mornings are now colder and even though light it is only when the sun breaks through with its warmth that you manage to shake off your tiredness. We’re now at the final approach to Everest Base Camp and climbing Kala Pattar.
Mar 28 Dingboche (4410m) to Lobuche (4,930m)
We walked to Dhukla for lunch in just over two hours which was a wonderful walk through the valley. On reaching this spot however, it was very noticeable how cold it still was for the first time during the day. The wind was whistling down the valley and without the sun, the cold was biting.
Above Dhukla the first half an hour is a very steep slope where there are a number of memorials to those who have perished attempting to climb Everest. These memorials built out of the local stone offer an eerie and quite sombre sight particularly on a windswept, cloudy day. The memorial to Scott Fischer and other not so well known people are here. For the first time we can see the end of the Khumbu glacier & it is this ice sheet that has carved the magnificent valley that we have been walking through. The final two hours were fairly flat but here we are encountering almost permanent snow.
Lobuche isn’t really a permanent settlement like the other places we have passed but rather a small shanty town that has grown up to service the needs of climbers. In the past couple of days, the number of guest houses and tea shops has noticeably thinned and the terrain become less frequented and barren as we have gained further height towards Everest. Surprisingly, this place doesn’t seem to be as bad as I’ve read (often described as a nothing more than a few shacks, rubbish and excrement!). I’m amazed to fined there’s even a hotel of sorts with double glazing. Although $35 a night (very expensive for this region), that is well within reach of the average hiker.
Mar 29 Lobuche (4930m) to Kala Pattar (5545m)
An extremely tiring but incredibly rewarding day. As expected this was the coldest night yet, dropping to about -20 oC. I managed to stay warm but it made for a very interesting start getting up at 03:45 at that temperature. We dispensed with washing facilities and most people wisely slept in their gear, ready to go. We left at 04:45, head torches on for the 2 ½ hr trek along the moraine and across the glacier to Gorak Shep.
On the way, obviously due to the altitude and maybe tiredness aswell, I had the most surreal experience. It’s very hard to explain in words, but it actually did not feel real at all, more like a dream. I felt that it wasn’t actually I who was walking. People I spoke too along the way didn’t seem real and their voices and tone were dream like. Even when we reached Gorak Shep and the Tea House, I sat down with a big mug of lemon tea but it felt like I actually wasn’t there. It was similar to watching a dream unfold around me. I was light-headed and at first this didn’t bother me, but at the tea stop it was all a bit worrying as I felt not at all in control.
It was another 2 ½ hrs to the summit of Kala Pattar. What a very deceiving mountain. Directly beneath the awe-inspiring Pumori, it is tiny in comparison and it looks just like a large hill. However, because it is surrounded by these giants of mountains and also due to the altitude, this is very deceptive. This climb became one of the hardest things I have ever attempted.
Fortunately, my light head subsided as I started the climb but the lack of oxygen at this height soon became apparent. It was important to get into a slow, plodding rhythm and just keep going. Nevertheless the last few hundred metres took an eternity and every ounce of strength to summon my legs to move forward. For the latter part it was a question of two steps then slump over hiking poles, breath, rest and two more steps. It was agony, but eventually the summit was reached. Three from our group failed to reach the top and others had their daysacks carried so it was a great achievement to reach the top.
The views of Everest, the Khumbu icefall and Nuptse were absolutely amazing and made it all worthwhile.We were on the summit for about ½ hr and I took my time on the way down wanting to take it all in as much as possible. I stopped halfway down, and walked several metres away from the path to take a rest and something to eat, just so that I could marvel at the spectacular scenery. It was a long walk back to Lobouche and I returned at 3:15pm after a wonderful but thoroughly exhausting day.
Mar 30 Lobuche (4930m) to Pangboche (4252m)
Another cold night down to about -10 oC , and again I slept for a good ten hours. Although we’ve done about six hours walking it’s been a fairly easy day. We’ve retraced part of our steps taking the southerly track so that we visited Pheriche for lunch. After lunch we again retraced our route to Pangboche, but this time diverting off to Upper Pangboche. It was all mostly downhill and we’ve lost about 700m in height.
Mar 31 Pangboche (4254m) to Thare (4400m)
A long tiring day but one of the best so far, particularly the morning. Wonderful walk high along the valley cliff edges with an abundance of wildlife; mountain goats, Himalayan griffin and eagles. 
Unfortunately for two in our group the altitude has taken its toll and they have had to descend back down the valley with one of our sherpas today. I can empathise with how they feel. I feel fairly good except for my lips which have become dry and cracked and nose bleeds (a remnant of a diving accident). I slept well again but during the night I again experienced this strange surreal, almost drunk-like feeling that I am not really here. One further effect of the altitude is the vast amount of dreaming that I have done. I took one paracetemol to be on the safe side. No-one else in the group has spoken of the same sensation (at least if they have they’re not admitting it!), but on the plus side I am sleeping like a log whereas most others are not.